So, you want to eliminate all those pre-fixed, frozen, boxed meals, and the processed food that you too often rely on? We can help you do that – but you’ll have to learn how to cook.

As a long-time vegetarian, most-of-the-time vegan, I had to learn how to cook as soon as I went off to college. While I made a lot of mistakes (I exploded many casserole dishes and burned a lot of flavorless tofu), I eventually learned how to whip up healthy meals quickly.

So, you want to eliminate all those pre-fixed, frozen, boxed meals, and the processed food that you too often rely on? We can help you do that – but you’ll have to learn how to cook. Don’t worry; it’s not as hard as you think. And once you get the hang of it, it’ll be as easy as ripping open a bag of Doritos. Well, almost.

As a long-time vegetarian, most-of-the-time vegan, I had to learn how to cook as soon as I went off to college. While I made a lot of mistakes (I exploded many casserole dishes and burned a lot of flavorless tofu), I eventually learned how to whip up healthy meals quickly.

So, what’s the easiest thing you can do to keep your kitchen full of un-processed foods? Buy a ton of fresh fruits and vegetables, slice, and enjoy. While you can buy any type of produce at the store year-round, try to fill your basket with seasonal delights. Learning how to prepare foods that are in season can help you break out of any food comfort zone you may have created.

If you’re looking to drizzle something atop your freshly cut seasonal vegetables, don’t head to the condiments aisle – head to your pantry and fridge. With a few simple ingredients and a bit of time, you can create a salad topping that’s better than anything that you could find that’s pre-made.

This goes for almost any other condiment, as well. You can easily make your own:

If you’re a slave to the frozen dinner or lunch, we feel you. These convenient meals are a snap to make when your energy is zapped. But sadly, most of these meals don’t really contain anything that tastes good, or is good for you. Instead of loading up on frozen meals, you can make your own un-processed, pre-made meals over the weekend. I love making a gigantic pot of chili on Sunday and divvying up the food into five glass (not plastic!) containers to enjoy for lunch during the week.

Have you ditched all of your processed foods yet? How did you make the change? Are there any processed foods that you just can’t part with?

We all know that to lose weight, you have to work out, right? But the New York Times recently reported on a new study showing that couch potatoes who started an exercise program got fitter, but fatter. So, should you throw your Nikes in the garbage? Absolutely not, and I'll tell you why.

We all know that to lose weight, you have to work out, right? But the New York Times recently reported on a new study showing that couch potatoes who started an exercise program got fitter, but fatter. So, should you throw your Nikes in the garbage? Absolutely not, and I’ll tell you why.

It’s an old story. Eating is so easy, and exercise is so hard. If you spend 45 minutes in the gym, you must have burned a thousand calories. And that tiny little sandwich you just got at Panera? That’s probably like two hundred calories, right? Try switching those amounts and you’d be a lot closer to the mark.

Additionally, most people give themselves a lot more diet leeway when they’re exercising. They feel like a little sweating entitles them to carte blanche when it comes time for their next meal. Most Americans also have diets that draw heavily from processed foods with tons of fillers and additives. Put all that together and you’ve got yourself a recipe for weight gain, even if you’re working out and becoming more fit.

The recent study, published in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, made no mention of what kind of diet the women in the study ate, or what their eating habits were, but the results are hard to dismiss. According to The New York Times, “Almost 70 percent of the women had added at least some fat mass during the program, and several had gained as much as 10 pounds, most of which was from fat, not added muscle.”

The truth is, tons of people aren’t eating well. Whether it’s fast food, snacks, pre-packaged frozen meals, or “diet” food, if you aren’t focusing on whole and responsibly farmed foods, you’re eating things that aren’t good for you. In his bestselling book “Clean“, Alejandro Junger, M.D. explains that “diets in America are substandard, lacking essential nutrients due to soil depletion, unnatural growing conditions, and global toxicity. Instead, Americans are eating too many processed foods loaded with chemicals, simple carbohydrates, and fats designed in laboratories.”

Ok, that sounds completely sucky, but what does that have to do with losing weight?

If you’re eating mostly processed foods with all that toxic junk in it, you’re not ever gonna feel that great. Also, because processed food is so nutrient deficient, you’ll end up eating more to feel satisfied. Dylan Schenk, certified nutritionist, explains, “Many processed foods have added sugar, salt, and gluten, which makes them higher in calories and fat, and harder to digest. Whole, unprocessed foods are lower in calories and higher in key nutrients, such as vitamins, minerals, and fiber. When you choose whole foods, you can actually eat more and be satiated.”

Additionally, eating crap can even cause you to give in to cravings more often and eat when you’re not hungry. Dr. Junger says “the standard American diet, with its quantities of refined grains and sugars and engineered, processed foods, has also created a roller-coaster ride of cravings and energy swings.”

Obviosuly, that’s all super terrible. So, how do we fix it? What kinds of food do we need to eat to lose weight? According to Dr. Junger, “one of the most powerful ways you can reduce your exposure to toxins and increase the nutrient content of your food is to spend more on foods with safer pedigrees – when possible, buy fresh foods from local sources.” In other words, go to the farmers market. Invest in a CSA share. Research the sources of your animal products. Buy organic. When you go to the grocery store, shop for food around the edges, not in the middle of the store.

If you visit your local farmers market to buy unprocessed ingredients, you can get food that’s delicious, nutrient dense, and even support your local economy! You can cook and eat and get full and feel fantastic. Then, take that additional energy and pour it into your workouts for even more caloric expenditure. And that’s how you lose weight and keep it off.

A recent CDC report found more than 90 percent of U.S. children aged 6-18 years eat more sodium than the recommended daily allowance. Prepackaged foods, restaurant foods and salt-added canned goods are a big factor in this high salt consumption. Avoid these 10 salty foods for children to lower your child's daily sodium intake.

A recent CDC report found that more than 90 percent of U.S. children aged 6-18 years eat more sodium than the recommended daily allowance because of the prevalence of salty foods. Prepackaged and canned foods along with restaurant foods are big factors in this high salt consumption.

“Too many children are consuming way too much sodium, and the result will be risks of high blood pressure and heart disease in the future,” CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. said to Food Safety News. “Most sodium is from processed and restaurant food, not the salt shaker. Reducing sodium intake will help our children avoid tragic and expensive health problems.”

U.S. children ages 6-18 eat about 3300 mg of sodium a day, most of which is already in the food prior to purchase. About 65 percent of this sodium comes from store foods; 13 percent comes from fast food and pizza restaurants; and 9 percent comes from the school cafeteria food, according to the CDC report on salt intake. The recommended salt intake is less than 2300 mg per day for most people. Some high risk individuals should consume less than 1500 mg per day (those with high blood pressure, kidney disease or diabetes, anyone over 51 and African Americans of any age, according to the CDC).

4. Savory Snacks: I hear from my daughters every day about their friends’ lunches. Thankfully, not in a jealous manner, but they tell me about them. Most of them contain a bag of potato chips. Just a single ounce of plain potato chips contains 50 – 200 mg of sodium.

5: Sandwiches: Double up the bread—a single slice of white bread contains 80 – 230 mg of salt—add 3 ounces of turkey breast, deli or pre-packaged luncheon meat 450 – 1,050 and you’ve got a minimum of 610 mg of sodium before you even add cheese or condiments. Go for a fast food sandwich with herb and cheese bread? Tack on a few hundred more mg of sodium.

6: Cheese: This is a doozy. A 1-ounce slice of processed American cheese (packaged or deli) contains 330 – 460 mg of salt. Eek!

Give up these processed foods once and for all, and learn to make them at home instead.

While it may seem like buying prepackaged processed foods is a good idea, they often end up being more expensive and less nutritious than making your own wholesome foods. Things like canned soups, beans, almond milk and other foods may seem like wholesome and nutritious, but buying them already prepared is possibly robbing you of valuable nutrients, exposing you to chemicals and is adding additional costs your grocery bill.

It is possible to both save money and add more nutrition to your diet by switching out those prepackaged and processed foods for whole foods. For example, according to The Bean Institute, canned beans cost four times as much as dried beans. And while that doesn’t seem like much, consider the impact across your whole grocery shopping order. It should also be noted that cans are lined with BPA, or similar chemicals, which is among a long list currently under review by the EPA. It’s also important to point out that buying in bulk can also make for less packaging waste, which is good for the environment.

4 Processed Foods You Should Make Yourself

1. Vegetable Stock – Making stock is easy and homemade stock just tastes better that store-bought. Vegetable stock can simply be made with onion, carrots, celery, whatever other veggies you have on hand and some fresh herbs. A few hours of the stove top is all you need and there’s no worry about BPA-lined cans, MSG or excess salt.

2. Kefir – Homemade kefir is like a different food than the stuff you buy in stores. There are so many more probiotics in the homemade version, and homemade kefir is so much more nutritious, and the taste is tangier. You will need someone to share kefir grains with you or purchase some online. There is a bit of a learning curve, but the payoff is worth it.

3. Almond Milk – We don’t drink almond milk as a milk substitute in our home, but more as a treat. The homemade version is so much sweeter (even without added sweetener) and you can use the leftover almond meal for baking. Plus, there’s no added sugar or preservatives!

4. Bread – We don’t eat a lot of bread in our house, but when we do, it is homemade. Once you get the routine of breadmaking down, it is simple. A favorite is homemade focaccia, which is a super forgiving bread for beginners. Store-bought breads contain added sugar and even scarier ingredients!

The Environmental Working Group has released Food Scores: Rate Your Plate, a tool that looks at your food from every health angle. The database, which is also available as a mobile app, rates 80,000 foods from 1,500 brands. The scoring system includes nutrition and ingredients of concern such as additives and contaminants.

The Environmental Working Group has released Food Scores: Rate Your Plate, a tool that looks at your food from every health angle. The database, which is also available as a mobile app, rates 80,000 foods from 1,500 brands. The scoring system includes nutrition and ingredients of concern such as additives and contaminants.

“When you think about healthy food, you have to think beyond the Nutrition Facts panel,” said Renee Sharp, Environmental Working Group director of research. “It doesn’t always tell the whole story. EWG’s Food Scores shows that certain foods that we think are good for us may actually be much less so because they contain questionable food additives or toxic contaminants.”

The database includes an overall score to help people find cleaner, healthier foods using a 1 to 10 rating system, one being the best. Questionable additives and contaminants like arsenic, mercury, and antibiotics are noted in the database. Nutritional facts are customized by gender, life stage, and pregnancy.

“We developed EWG’s Food Scores in recognition of two trends,” said Ken Cook, Environmental Working Group president and cofounder. “First, Americans are becoming increasingly concerned about excessive amounts of sugar, salt, fat and other unhealthy ingredients in supermarket food. Second, they no longer trust big food companies or popular brands to put health before profits, not even the health of our kids. With EWG’s Food Scores, shoppers can quickly see what food companies are really putting into their food.”

To try out the database, I took three food items from my pantry and fridge to test. First, I tried Late July Multigrain Snack Chips, which scored a 5 because of high caloric density and sodium as well as the possible contamination of arsenic because it’s a rice product. The next product I tried was Earth Balance Natural Peanut Butter with Flaxseed, which scored a 4 because it contains high levels of saturated fat, some added sugars, and it’s high in calories. It’s also not certified organic. Finally, I tried out Lightlife Organic Smoky Tempeh Strips, a favorite in our house. It scored a 4.5 because it may be contaminated with arsenic, it has too much sodium, and adding flavoring.

This food database is truly amazing. While it’s impossible to be perfect, you really get an idea of places where your diet could use improvement. Even for those that know a lot about nutrition. And the best part: it’s super easy to use.

Artificial food dyes have been shown to negatively impact children's behavior, likely causing hyperactivity and inflaming conditions like ADHD. But until recently, we had no way of knowing the exact amount of artificial food dyes in the foods we were eating. A new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, finally shines a light on the amount of food dyes in some all-American favorites. The findings are disconcerting because the amount of food dyes found in many cases are higher than levels that have been found to impair a child’s behavior.

Artificial food dyes have been shown to negatively impact children’s behavior, likely causing hyperactivity and inflaming conditions like ADHD. But until recently, we had no way of knowing the exact amount of artificial food dyes in the foods we were eating. A new study, published in the journal Pediatrics, finally shines a light on the amount of food dyes in some all-American favorites. The findings are disconcerting because the amount of food dyes found in many cases are higher than levels that have been found to impair a child’s behavior.

Artificial food dyes hide in many breakfast cereals. Fruity Cheerios contain 31 mg. Trix cereals contain Yellow 6, Blue 1, and Red 40–36 mg in all. Of all the cereals tested, Cap’n Crunch Oops! All Berries had the most artificial colors with 41 mg. Of the candies tested, M&M’s and Skittles had the highest amount of food dyes. Kraft Macaroni & Cheese was another biggie with 17 mg of food dye in the form of Yellow 5 and Yellow 6.

“In the 1970s and 1980s, many studies were conducted giving children 26 mg of a mixture of dyes,” said Laura Stevens, research associate in the Nutrition Science Department at Purdue and lead author of the study. “Only a few children seemed to react to the dyes, so many doctors concluded that a dye-free diet was pointless. Later studies using larger doses showed that a much larger percentage of children reacted. But some researchers considered those doses unrealistically high. It is now clear that even the larger amounts may not have been high enough. The time is long past due for the FDA to get dyes out of the food supply or for companies to do so voluntarily and promptly.”

You can easily avoid buying foods with artificial colors just by reading the label. And often times, food that look laden with coloring actually are.

If I had to find just one good reason to eat processed foods, I’d have an impossible time coming up with one. But when it comes to reasons not to eat processed foods however, well, I could talk your ear off. In short, I don’t eat processed foods because I care too much about sustaining my health to risk it on anything that might jeopardize it. So what do I eat? The same things I advise my patients to eat: healing whole foods that deliver energy, vibrance and wellness. When you apply those three simple criteria to everything that goes in your mouth, eating well becomes a pretty simple exercise. While this approach can be tough at first for those who are trying to turn around a lifetime of poor eating habits, the good news is that in time, with practice, the desire for processed food will fall away and eating well will become second nature. If you are beginning the journey to better health, but finding it challenging, here are a few thoughts to remember as you work to free your body and mind of processed foods:

If I had to find just one good reason to eat processed foods, I’d have an impossible time coming up with one. But when it comes to reasons not to eat processed foods however, well, I could talk your ear off. In short, I don’t eat processed foods because I care too much about sustaining my health to risk it on anything that might jeopardize it. So what do I eat? The same things I advise my patients to eat: healing whole foods that deliver energy, vibrance and wellness. When you apply those three simple criteria to everything that goes in your mouth, eating well becomes a pretty simple exercise. While this approach can be tough at first for those who are trying to turn around a lifetime of poor eating habits, the good news is that in time, with practice, the desire for processed food will fall away and eating well will become second nature. If you are beginning the journey to better health, but finding it challenging, here are a few thoughts to remember as you work to free your body and mind of processed foods:

1. Processed Foods Make Simple Foods Complicated

When referring to “processed foods” we’re talking about foods that aren’t in their original, natural state when you buy them. Foods that come with a label listing more than two or three ingredients are generally considered to be processed. For example, a bag of frozen organic spinach has only one ingredient – spinach – nothing has been added or taken away. A jar of raw almond butter will contain just almonds, so while some processing has taken place, nothing has been added. Then read the label on an average Lean Cuisine. There you’ll find upwards of 50 or more anything-but-natural ingredients listed! Now that’s what I call processed – taking simple food and pumping it full of stuff nobody ever asked for. Among processing’s many sins, the first one is that it complicates food, taking the streamlined, simple and pretty-close-to-perfect, then processing out the nutrients and processing in a boat-load of questionable ingredients.

2. Processed Foods Beat up Your Body

A bigger, more alarming problem with processed foods is what’s going on inside them. Virtually all processed foods are made with man-made ingredients, whose long-term effects are either highly questionable, seriously detrimental or even possibly carcinogenic (i.e., azodicarbonamide, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydrozyttoluene (BHT) and aspartame to name a few) Chemical additives, artificial colors, artificial flavorings, fillers, high fructose corn syrup, vegetable oils, trans fats and preservatives abound in processed foods, and the trouble is we don’t fully know the amount of damage they may be inflicting on our bodies. We do know there’s mounting evidence to suggest a link between processed food consumption and our skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes, cancer and heart disease, which if you ask me is reason enough to dump them. With fresh, organic, whole foods however, there’s no need to worry about the long-term health fallout. Whole foods are just as healthy as nature made them, with all their nutrients and health-sustaining properties intact.

3. Like Vampires, Processed Foods can Live Forever, and That’s Not a Plus

The bigger the transformation and the more steps your food passes through to go from raw material to finished “product,” the fewer nutrients survive – they’re literally pounded, pulverized, liquefied, extruded and processed out. Producers are less concerned with preserving nutrients than they are with turning a profit. They do so by producing the maximum amount of product at the lowest cost, and manufacturing it to maximize shelf life – none of which happens without taking chemical liberties, tossing in a few more preservatives and sacrificing nutrients along the way. Problem is, despite industry claims to the contrary, many of the common preservatives and artificial colors in processed foods have been linked to a variety of health problems, including moderate-to-severe allergies, neurologic disorders and even cancer. Not very appetizing, eh? Real, unprocessed or minimally processed foods on the other hand, are far less likely to cause damage or make you sick. Better yet, they tell you when they’re no longer fresh. They’ll start to wilt or smell, loose their color, start sprouting or grow mold – all to naturally signal that their nutrients are starting to pass their peak, no “sell-by” stamp required.

4. Processed Foods are Designed with Addiction in Mind

Can you make a cheese doodle? A Dorito? An Oreo? Probably not, as few of us possess the lab skills or chemical ingredients needed to create Franken-foods – and that’s just as well. What’s so diabolical about processed foods is that their lack of nutrients, good fats, fiber or protein, and excesses of salt and sugar, wind up encouraging the release of your body’s feel-good chemicals. That release triggers the desire for more sweet or salty crappy foods with no nutritional payoff. If this is happening multiple times a day, it’s easy to see how people wind up trying to fill a belly that’s never satisfied, and it’s weight gain, here you come. For example, most people find it virtually impossible to be satisfied by just one sugar-packed, quickly-digested, fiber and nutrient-free Oreo cookie, so they’ll likely eat a bunch before stopping, and even then, only reluctantly. By contrast, just one whole piece of fruit, like an orange or a serving of blueberries, is usually is enough. Why? Because the fruit will deliver a much larger nutritional payload, including fiber, water and slowly-metabolized carbs, without setting off intense cravings.

5. Want to Stay Chubby? Processed Foods Can Help!

As evolved as we may think we are, when it comes to processed foods, many of us are closer to lab monkeys than we’d like to admit, repeatedly hitting the processed-food pleasure bar, having fallen prey to the addictive flavors which have been carefully baked right in. The processed food industry helps keep you fat by devoting countless resources to identifying and developing flavors with appeal. They create sweet, salty, never-fully-satisfying foods, full of the bad fats, that can put you into an almost perpetual state of craving. With your satiety switch suppressed, overeating becomes the norm. The food manufacturers win – and you lose everything but the weight.

Processed foods are talking to you, but are you listening? Do you feel great after eating a fast food meal? Do you feel energetic after a few slices of pizza? Didn’t think so. The fact that many people wind up feeling lethargic, sleepy and even depressed after eating processed food is the body’s way of saying this isn’t a good way to eat. Listen to your body. It knows! Eating foods that are unprocessed or minimally processed will deliver actual nourishment, i.e. vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, that will make you feel good and supply the long-lasting energy your body needs to function at its best.

7. Processed Foods: You Loved Them, Now Let Them Go

For some, cold turkey is the simplest the way to release the addictive grip of processed foods, while others succeed by slowly tapering off. However you choose to go about it though, look for foods as close to their fresh, unfettered, original state as possible, to minimize your ingestion of chemicals, additives and artificial flavors. If access to fresh produce is limited, supplement with frozen, which is often just as good as fresh. Look for meat and poultry that’s been raised responsibly, humanely, grass-fed or pasture-raised, without antibiotics, hormones or genetically modified feeds. Let go of food in pouches, boxes and cans. When you get to the point where at least 80% or more of your diet is made up of nutrient-rich, whole foods, you’ll tip the scales in your favor and make a significant positive impact on your health.

Once upon a time in America, we made big batches of food and ate from them until they were gone—whether they fed a family of six or a single person. We didn't cut corners by buying into the illusion that single-serve processed foods were doing anyone any favors.

Once upon a time in America, we made big batches of food and ate from them until they were gone—whether they fed a family of six or a single person. We didn’t cut corners by buying into the illusion that single-serve processed foods were doing anyone any favors.

Today’s market has changed dramatically. The single-serve reigns king of the supermarket. Since 2011, reports MarketWatch, sales of single-serve coffee have tripled. And sales are expected to continue to grow—more than 200 percent this year over 2011.

Of course, it’s not just coffee. Stroll through any supermarket freezer section and you’ll see empires built on meals entirely dedicated to the lone diner. (Michael Pollan and his family illustrated the absurdity of the frozen meal experience for a family in his book “Cooked.”) And beyond the frozen dinners, there are energy bars, candy bars, cans of soup, cups of soup, single-serve size cereals, pre-made sandwiches, pre-made salads, Lunchables, and of course, the single-serve soda bottle and can.

To say the single-serve is destroying our food culture is an understatement. Here are 5 signs the single serve needs to go:

1. Single-serve foods are processed foods: Convenient they may be, but in most cases you’re buying a processed, factory-extruded food product, that in all likelihood is loaded with bad-for-you ingredients.

2. Single-serves are more expensive: We have a fear of spending money on healthy food in this country. We nickname Whole Foods “whole paycheck” because it’s not uncommon to spend several hundred dollars in a single visit. But the thing is, healthy food shouldn’t be cheap. So we look at the price of a cup of soup and think it’s much cheaper than buying all the ingredients to make our own. But the bottom line is that in most cases, you save money when you make food from scratch, even if the initial investment is a bit more

3. We lose track of what we’re eating: When we scarf down energy bars, single-serve cups of coffee, cans of soda and other foods packaged to appeal to our “oh my god I am starving right now” reflex, we don’t have the type of relationship with that meal as we would if we had made any of those foods on our own. Even something as simple as a SodaStream machine does this. It allows you to make your own bubbly water for soda syrups, and that is an experience that engages you far more in what you’re consuming than cracking the tab on a can of soda.

4. We create more waste: The Keurig coffee maker designed for single cups may keep you from buying an expensive coffee at the local Starbucks, but you don’t need an ecology degree to know that all the packaging isn’t good for the environment. If you simply can’t seem to make your own cuppa on your own, bring your own mug to your local coffee shop instead. They often offer a discount, and there’s no single-serve packaging waste.

The same goes for all your other single-serving indulgences. Make a tray of energy bars once a month and freeze them. Or a soup. Make a week’s worth of sandwiches or salads in an hour on a Sunday and cut down on the waste and taste of processed single-serve meals.

5. We lose out on the meal experience: Americans eat alone. A lot. Drive thru windows are big business. And solitude has it’s place, of course. It’s not always possible to eat with others. But sometimes it is. Take advantage of the opportunity to break bread with someone else. There’s a reason the French and Italian and many other cultures around the world make time to eat with others. It enlivens the spirit. It makes food taste better, which always makes for most delicious leftovers.

]]>http://www.organicauthority.com/5-signs-single-serve-processed-foods-are-destroying-food-culture-in-america/feed/0China’s Processed Foods Become More Transparent Thanks to New Registryhttp://www.organicauthority.com/processed-foods-become-more-transparent-new-fda-registry
http://www.organicauthority.com/processed-foods-become-more-transparent-new-fda-registry#commentsWed, 15 Jan 2014 08:00:46 +0000http://www.organicauthority.com/?p=27023
The Chinese Food and Drug Administration is about to pull back the curtain on food additives.

Processed foods are bad for us, often because it’s hard to know exactly what’s in them. Most companies like to hide the nasty stuff they use to make processed foods so addictive, but a recent move by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration is about to pull back the curtain on food additives.

Starting in January 2014, all companies manufacturing, producing, packaging, selling or using food additives will be required to register the product name and the additives it contains with in a specialized government database. The registry initially launched in 2011 in response to the discovery of toxic plasticizers in processed foods, but until recently participation was only voluntary.

“The decision to make registration mandatory, the FDA said, was made because other food scandals emerged this year, including the unauthorized use of modified starches in food products and the use of unauthorized additives in cooking oils,” reports Focus Taiwan.

The FDA will enforce the mandatory registry by inspecting facilities where processed foods are made to verify that companies are only dealing with the additives they have registered. “Companies that fail to comply with the new rules will face a fine of between NT$30,000-NT$3 million (US$1,006-$100,572) under the Act Governing Food Sanitation,” reports China Post.

The move is just another example of how far behind the U.S. has fallen in terms of protecting consumers from toxic ingredients in processed foods. Where the European Union and China have pumped the brakes on genetically engineered foods and toxic food dyes in candy and cereals, the U.S. FDA refuses to take similar precautions.

Until the FDA steps up, it’s the job of conscious consumers to keep the pressure on the makers of processed foods to come clean about what’s in their products.

The FDA announced that it’s moving toward further limiting trans fats in processed foods because the agency has decided that there’s no acceptable limit for human health.

Trans fats are popular because they give foods taste and texture while improving shelf life. But they’ve also been directly linked to heart disease. The CDC recommends keeping trans fat consumption as low as possible because they increase LDL low-density lipoprotein or “bad cholesterol” and decrease HDL high-density lipoprotein or “good cholesterol”. The agency states that further reducing trans fats in American diets could prevent 10,000-20,000 heart attack deaths and 3,000-7,000 coronary heart disease deaths every year. Personally, I’m shocked that knowing their death toll anyone would eat a food with trans fats. But surprisingly, these artery cloggers are still in quite a few of the processed foods that we Americans can’t seem to resist.

5 Processed Foods Brimming with Trans Fats

1. Doughnuts

You know you love them, whether at your Friday morning office meeting or with a cup of potent coffee at the coffee shop. But doughnuts are loaded with trans fats and if the ban goes into place they just won’t be the same. Without trans fats they’ll likely be slightly more oily than what we’re used to. But I’ll take the oil if it means I won’t drop dead from a heart attack after the morning meeting.

2. Popcorn

Microwavable and movie popcorn are currently loaded with trans fats but if the ban goes into place, they may have to use actual butter in their “butter flavor” popcorn. I think the more obvious question is: why weren’t they using butter in butter popcorn beforehand?

3. Frozen Pizza

Frozen pizza contains trans fats but with the ban, food manufacturers may have to switch to vegetable oil. But the pizza might not last as long. “We don’t want other additives to make these last longer. Do we really want something in our food that can stay in our pantry for three years?” says Kristin Kirkpatrick, a wellness manager and registered dietitian at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio on Time.

4. Cookies and Crackers

Cookies and crackers tend to contain trans fats because it improves their texture and keeps them crisp.

5. Refrigerated Dough and Pie Crusts

While ready-made dough and pie crusts can make homemade dessert that much simpler to make, they also contain trans fats. But with the new ban, food manufacturers will likely switch to regular canola. (Look out for the canola oil; it’s mostly GMO.)

On Thursday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will begin a gradual and total elimination of trans fats in the American food system. Trans fats, widely considered to be the worst possible kind of fat for heart health, is most commonly found in processed foods—from cookies to frozen pizza. Once thought of as a safe flavor and texture enhancer, trans fat is now linked to life-threatening disease and even death.

While growing awareness about trans fats has led to a sharp decline in their use over the past decade, they “remain an area of significant public health concern” according to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. Hamburg said that phasing these toxic fats out completely could prevent as many as 20,000 heart attacks a year and 7,000 deaths.

After a comment period of two months, the FDA will decide on a timeline for trans fat elimination. “We want to do it in a way that doesn’t unduly disrupt markets,” Michael Taylor, FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods, told the AP. Still, he says, “industry has demonstrated that it is by and large feasible to do.”

We all know that fat in general isn’t necessarily bad for us. In fact the body needs good fats to support itself. But trans fats are bad in every sense of the word. “Like saturated fats, trans fats raise LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol and increase the risk of heart disease. But unlike saturated fats, trans fats lower HDL ‘good’ cholesterol and may do more damage. The American Heart Association advises limiting saturated fat consumption to less than 7% of daily calories and trans fat consumption to less than 1%,” explains WebMD.

Health advocacy groups, including the Center for Science in the Public Interest, say a six to 12 month phase-out period should be more than enough time to get trans fats off the shelves.

Welcome to this week's installment of From Our Friends, a weekly roundup where we highlight some of our favorite posts, published by our friends and partners around the web. This week's edition includes a bubbly bath product that cleans kiddos naturally, an in-depth look at how processed foods are are impacting our health and environment, a peek behind the curtain at the mysteries of tofu, why a devoted at-home yoga practice can put you more in touch with yourself, how your purchases give back to charity, and the macho party food that could cause a 'fowl' side effect on your unborn baby's manhood. Enjoy!

Welcome to this week’s installment of From Our Friends, a weekly roundup where we highlight some of our favorite posts, published by our friends and partners around the web. This week’s edition includes a bubbly bath product that cleans kiddos naturally, an in-depth look at how processed foods are are impacting our health and environment, a peek behind the curtain at the mysteries of tofu, why a devoted at-home yoga practice can put you more in touch with yourself, how your purchases give back to charity, and the macho party food that could cause a ‘fowl’ side effect on your unborn baby’s manhood. Enjoy!

1. Bathtime is about bonding with your babies and getting fresh, but harsh contaminents in many soaps and bath products are doing more harm than good. MightyNest shares how cute and sustainable Clean Kids products are naturally efficient. The brand is made without parabens, phthalates, sulfates, artificial colors or fragrances, mineral oil or petrolatum, and is also gluten-free, vegan, and not tested on animals.

2. They say you are what you eat and ExperienceLife shares why our commitment to clean eating matters now more than ever. If you eat “a Nutri-Grain bar in the morning, a Subway Chipotle Chicken and Cheese sandwich for lunch, and a DiGiorno pepperoni pizza for dinner, for example, you will have ingested a total of 68 different nonfood additives that haven’t been tested together.”

3. What is tofu, anyway? As it turns out, tofu is neither mysterious nor forged by alchemists. Blisstree breaks it down and teaches us how to stop being Tofu-stupid.

4. Experience yourself! Developing a home practice can revolutionize your yoga routine. The YogiTimes tells us how to embrace the time and space to reflect inward and fine tune the harmony between you and your body.

5. The Organic Whey cares about our world and you may not realize that the conscientious company contributes 1% of all sales to One Percent for the Planet!

6. Size does matter. And all of those novel little chicken wings that folks indulge in during football season might be making a big impact on your wee one while they’re still in the womb. Can eating chicken wings during pregnancy affect your child’s penis size? EcoSalon shared how processed meat shapes our children.

You are what you eat – and your diet choices may be having a greater effect on your mood than you realize. From sugar spikes and crashes to funky artificial additives and even natural chemicals, watch out for menu items that include these sneaky mood saboteurs.

You are what you eat – and your diet choices may be having a greater effect on your mood than you realize. From sugar spikes and crashes to funky artificial additives and even natural chemicals, watch out for menu items that include these sneaky mood saboteurs.

If you suspect your food sensitivities might be more serious than you realize, keep a mood and food journal for one or two weeks. On one page, write down every single thing you eat, and on the other side, how you feel, from slight annoyances to near-panic attacks. Only by tracking your consumption can you pinpoint if certain foods you eat on a regular basis are upsetting your mood and your system.

When you’re in a bad mood, you’re more likely to reach for an unhealthy snack, because all your brainpower is being used to handle your emotions. Stock your pantry with healthy, tempting options so that when a bad mood inevitably strikes, you can avoid all the choices below.

1. Fried Potatoes – Crisps, fries and other potato snacks are usually fried in oils heavy with omega-6 fatty acids, plus potatoes release the carcinogen acrylamide when fried. For a healthier salty snack, try air popped popcorn or roasted almonds.

2. Peanuts – Packaged, in-the-shell peanuts sold at ballgames and bars are often loaded with sodium as well as MSG – monosodium glutamate, an artificial seasoning associated with headaches, fatigue and respiratory issues. Choose shelled peanuts instead.

3. Bagels – Packed with refined carbohydrates, bagels are like a sugar bomb to your blood system – like eating six pieces of bread all at once, which you would never do (right?). A bagel breakfast will almost always be followed by a mid-morning feeling of “meh.” Start your day with whole grain bread instead, and watch your mood improve.

4. Soda – Associated with birthday parties and fun times, the sweet taste and sparkly texture of sodas is hard to resist. The super high sugar content will make you feel great for a while, and then like crack rock it will turn and crash your energy levels.

5. Cocktails – Having a glass or two of red wine these days is practically doctor’s orders. But we all know that alcohol in any form is a depressant that must be handled carefully. Remember: never drink to feel better, only drink to feel EVEN better. Alcohol enhances any mood – even a bad one.

6. Coffee – While usually associated with a mood upswing, coffee can easily create anxiety and agitation if you drink too much too fast. Start with one cup and try alternatives like green tea if you tend to get jittery after drinking coffee.

7. Unhealthy Anything – When you put junk food into your body, you’re sending yourself a message that you’re not worth anything better. Conversely, when you honor your body and treat it with care and make healthy, organic diet choices, you’ll feel better about yourself and life in general.

Processed foods are gross on so many levels—the added sugars, artificial colors and flavors, stabilizers, GMOs—but some manufacturers take it to a whole other level with some really unnecessary gimmicks to get you to buy their products. Newness sells even when it's downright gnarly.

Processed foods are gross on so many levels—the added sugars, artificial colors and flavors, stabilizers, GMOs—but some manufacturers take it to a whole other level with some really unnecessary gimmicks to get you to buy their products. Newness sells even when it’s downright gnarly.

Here’s a roundup of some of the grossest processed foods we’ve seen in a while:

2. Pepsi Cheetos: When you’re in Japan next, get all the comforts of home in one bag with the latest invention from PepsiCo and Frito Lay: Pepsi-flavored Cheetos. We’re really looking forward to Cheetos flavored Pepsi next.

3. Ramen Burger: Hungry enough to eat a ramen burger? The newest craze in New York City uses fried ramen noodle ‘buns’ to sandwich a burger. But one thing we can’t figure out: where do you put the flavor packet?

4. Cronut Burger: If the ramen burger sounds a little too gross, you could always try the cronut burger instead. This uses the other NYC trend du jour, the cronut (croissant-donut hybrid) to create a bun for your meat. Hold the jelly filling. Or not.

5. The Pretzel Burger: But wait! We almost forgot bizarro burger option #3. How did no one think of this before 2013? Wendy’s management is surely laughing themselves into a twist all the way to the bank over their latest creation: the Pretzel Bacon Cheeseburger. Because what goes better than a square burger topped with gloppy cheese, bumpy bacon and served in a semi-twisted soft pretzel?

9. The Hot Dog Stuffed Pizza: Pizza Hut will keep coming up with disgusting pizza ideas until we insist they stop. Don’t believe me? Head on over to the UK or up to Canada for their latest invention, the hot dog stuffed pizza, and let me know how that trip turns out for you. I’m particularly interested in the ‘mustard drizzle.’

10. The Kit-Kat Pops: If that hot dog stuffed pizza put a smile on your face, well then, by all means book a flight to the nearest Pizza Hut Middle East location where you can finish your meal with doughy Twinkie looking pillows stuffed with Kit Kat bars.

12. The Strawberry Pop-Tart Ice Cream Sandwich: Why make an ice cream sandwich with boring old cookies when you can use a Pop-Tart instead? The folks at Carl’s Jr. apparently were wondering the same thing when they “invented” the vanilla sammy. And good news for you calorie counters, the 320 calories and 51 grams of carbs come from just one whole Pop-Tart cut in half for the sandwich, not two. (Phew!)

Image via Coca-Cola

13. The Edible Fanta Ad: Maybe actual food’s not quite your thing anymore, even with all these yummy processed food options. The folks at Fanta have you covered with a recent ad campaign where you can actually eat the soda-flavored paper. No straw, no bubbles, no mess!

]]>http://www.organicauthority.com/foodie-buzz/13-grossest-processed-foods-people-actually-pay-money-to-eat.html/feed/0If Obesity is a Disease, Should Processed Foods Be Banned? Or Are They the Cure?http://www.organicauthority.com/foodie-buzz/if-obesity-is-a-disease-should-processed-foods-be-banned-or-are-they-the-cure.html
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The American Medical Association recently made a statement on obesity—a health epidemic sweeping the nation. They called it a disease. “Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” Dr. Patrice Harris a member of the association’s board, said in a statement.

The American Medical Association recently made a statement on obesity—a health epidemic sweeping the nation. They called it a disease. “Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” Dr. Patrice Harris a member of the association’s board, said in a statement.

The announcement has divided many health experts. Will lumping obesity in with cancer, heart disease, arthritis and the scores of other legitimate diseases bring more medical focus to “curing” it? Or will it fade like the inked prescription labels for the many other chronic ailments Americans guzzle down pills for with no real cures in sight?

Obesity’s causes are pretty cut and dry. The same can’t be said for lupus or cancer or even heart disease. And even though some weight issues are hereditary, and others may be a result of the chemical-coated world we now live in, what we put in our mouths every day greatly impacts our chances of becoming obese.

Author David H. Freedman thinks our obesity crisis may actually be cured by processed food—one of the biggest culprits in America’s battle of the bulge. In an article for the Atlantic (“How Junk Food Can End Obesity”), he blames the foodie elite “minority” for scaring us away from processed foods so much that it may have forced the industry into doing even worse things to get our dollars: “An enormous amount of media space has been dedicated to promoting the notion that all processed food, and only processed food, is making us sickly and overweight,” he writes, suggesting that the fast food industry as a result has “turned all the powers of food-processing science loose on engineering its offerings to addict us to fat, sugar, and salt, causing or at least heavily contributing to the obesity crisis.”

It’s true. The healthier we want our food, and the more demands we make of food manufacturers to sate this desire, the more crafty they get at manipulation. They gloss their shiny boxes and cans with buzzwords they know we want to read like “low sodium”, “all-natural”, “zero trans fats”—in desperate attempts to keep sales up and consumer demand high. They hire celebrities and launch witty campaigns that, hopefully, remind us how important brands are in our diet, and in our own identity.

It’s an inherently problematic scheme. Food manufacturers need to keep selling us products, both the old and the brand new. They buy the cheapest ingredients because most of their money is spent on clever ads designed to forge an emotional bond between consumer and the carton’s caloric content. You shouldn’t just like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese; you should absolutely love it, like you do a television show, a book, a record, a pet.

Freedman targets the author and food expert, Michael Pollan (calling his followers “Pollanites”) who has become the token spokesperson for avoiding processed foods whenever possible. He writes, “Foodlike substances, the derisive term Pollan uses to describe processed foods, is now a solid part of the elite vernacular.”

Should we really have another opinion on processed foods? Freedman goes on to compare made-from-scratch foods (albeit, a Mark Bittman recipe cooked in bacon fat) to not being much healthier than a Whopper. “The fact is, there is simply no clear, credible evidence that any aspect of food processing or storage makes a food uniquely unhealthy,” he writes. And that may also be true. But isn’t it common sense? Have we learned nothing from thousands of years of human history and how the rest of our fellow earthlings consume calories? Granted, in a post-apocalyptic world where all that survived to eat were cans of Spam and bags of Combos, most people would be pretty darn grateful, and satisfied, if not a little nauseated. But healthy?

We know that the human body responds differently to fresh, whole foods than it does to a canister of Pringles or a Doritos Locos Taco Bell Taco, which may actually be clinically addictive. In all his Pollan-bashing, Freedman overlooks some major issues with processed foods, namely industrialization.

Call me a Pollanite (seriously, please call me that), but isn’t removing the factory from my food a bit healthier for me and the planet? Foodborne illnesses result from the industrialization of processed foods. Rarely do they come from a backyard garden. And if they do–it’s also often because of contamination that began in a factory setting—be that farm run-off, contaminated soil, air or water. Pollution, deforestation, excessive use of fossil fuels all result from our reliance on the food industry. We can’t expect an industry that’s inherently unhealthy for the planet to offer us any real health benefits in the long run.

The food industry should perhaps be referred to more accurately as industrial food. The priorities are clear: Industry certainly comes before food, and profits before that. When profits are the sole desired outcome—and let’s not kid ourselves otherwise—there is always a demand for more. That means more “new” products. More new versions of the old (“now with more chocolatey flavor!”), and new acquisitions—buying up other brands to add to the corporate portfolio.

“In many respects, the wholesome-food movement veers awfully close to religion,” writes Freedman, from what’s hopefully just a temporary Twinkie-induced state of delusion.

In his best attempts, Freedman envisions a world where restaurants like McDonald’s become beacons of health serving the lower-class communities unable to afford the ‘foodie elite’ trips to Whole Foods. He points to the “healthy” changes the chain has been making over the years like reducing sodium, adding fruit and low-fat dairy to the menu. But these changes are a bit like the difference between being shot at point blank range by an expert marksman or someone who just practices at the range a few times a month. There’s a pretty good chance you’re going to have a bullet in you either way. One’s just more likely to kill you quicker. What he doesn’t point to is the reason why our food deserts exist in the first place. Or, how many communities are working hard to bring fresh food into those areas. And when they do, health dramatically changes.

As our obesity crisis is now formally a disease, we need radical and effective treatment. A diet pill won’t do. A prescription for low-fat yogurt loaded with sweeteners, artificial and genetically modified ingredients won’t do either. We have a drastic situation on our hands that calls for drastic measures. Cutting out processed foods is the quickest and healthiest way to reducing obesity. Even the natural and organic versions. Buying single, whole ingredient foods and cooking from scratch can and does render people healthier. It reduces the risks for food poisoning. It lets you control those important ingredient levels for sodium, sugar, fat. It also connects us with our food—something Freedman seems reticent to emphasize.

When food, or like Pollan calls them, foodlike substances, create disease in a body, we can develop a very negative relationship with what we eat. It is, after all, the enemy. Learning to prepare fresh foods from scratch can cultivate a healthful relationship with things that will eventually become part of our body. What’s more healing than that? It’s not McDonald’s, no matter how healthy their menu becomes. Sure, processed foods may be here to stay. But obesity doesn’t have to be.

It's almost impossible to go to the market without coming back with something in a box, bag, can or jar. The simplicity of eliminating steps in preparing our food is now commonplace. We cut corners because food manufacturers make it so unbelievably easy and cheap to do so. Certainly some processed foods are safer than others, and most of us recognize how truly lucky we are to have so many options at our fingertips. And that's just the point: When we change our food habits, we change the world. It may seem as if processed food only affects our health, but there's a much bigger impact…and all the more reason for us to cut processed foods out for good.

It’s almost impossible to go to the market without coming back with something in a box, bag, can or jar. The simplicity of eliminating steps in preparing our food is now commonplace. We cut corners because food manufacturers make it so unbelievably easy and cheap to do so. Certainly some processed foods are safer than others, and most of us recognize how truly lucky we are to have so many options at our fingertips. And that’s just the point: When we change our food habits, we change the world.

It may seem as if processed food only affects our health, but there’s a much bigger impact…and all the more reason for us to cut processed foods out for good. Need a little motivation in making the shift to a truly whole foods diet? Here are 101 reasons to stop eating processed foods…forever.

Genetically modified ingredients are found in approximately 80 percent of processed foods

John Robbins wrote in his seminal book The Food Revolution that there are as many people on the planet currently suffering from obesity-related illnesses as there are those suffering from hunger-related illnesses. And, ironically, both have two critical factors in common: malnutrition and poverty.

John Robbins wrote in his seminal book The Food Revolution that there are as many people on the planet currently suffering from obesity-related illnesses as there are those suffering from hunger-related illnesses. And, ironically, both have two critical factors in common: malnutrition and poverty.

While it may seem impossible that obesity sufferers are as nutrient deficient as individuals without enough food to eat, it’s true. A 2007 study titled “Poverty, obesity, and malnutrition: an international perspective recognizing the paradox” found food insecurity’s contradiction is that not only can it lead to the more common vision of the gravely malnourished sufferers of undernutrition, but also, overnutrition, which the researchers estimate that by 2015 will take over as the leading cause of death from noncommunicable diseases in low-income communities, surpassing the effects of undernutrition.

Starvation has long been the poster child for poverty and malnutrition. Literally. Sally Struthers brought the issues of malnourished African children to television sets throughout the 1980s, begging Americans to help relieve their suffering while the millions of couch potatoes watching the depressing commercials snacked their way into their own malnourished state.

Particularly in the U.S., a growing number of obese individuals (one-third of all adult Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and a rising rate of families struggling to find food parallel. According to Feeding America, in 2010 14.5 percent of American households were food insecure. Often, the two are affecting the same individuals (three of the top ten states with the highest obesity rates and highest poverty rates are the same: Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi). How can this be?

Overnutirition leads to the obvious diet-related illnesses like obesity, heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, but it’s also a breeding ground as well for vitamin deficiency generated illnesses like chronic skin conditions, poor vision, gout, mental disorders, digestive disturbances and even certain types of cancer. What happens is this: When healthy foods are substituted with mere empty calories in fast/processed/frozen foods—often the only choice in low-income neighborhoods (and in many school systems)—the body stores much of the useless stuff (trans fats, processed sugars, refined grains and flours) in the body as fat until it can determine what—if anything—can be done with it. Hunger persists because the body has not filled its nutrition quota for the day. That’s why you may have noticed that you can eat an entire bag of Doritos and still feel a voracious hunger—because your body actually received very few nutrients. That can certainly pack on the pounds.

But further compounding the issue are the number of chemicals (from pesticides applied to the crops to the additives, artificial flavors and preservatives added to the finished product), called endocrine disruptors, which have been shown to cause obesity and diabetes, among myriad other health issues. Making it difficult to lose weight, these chemicals throw off the body’s hormonal systems that regulate insulin distribution and the body’s ability to metabolize.

Inexpensive processed foods are nutritionally inferior to fresh, whole fruits, vegetables, grains and even organically-raised animal products. Diets lacking in these—whether other foods are present or not—inevitably lead to malnutrition and the slurry of health issues common with both starvation and obesity.

And what’s more, experts suggest there is enough food on the planet right now to feed everyone healthy, nutritious food. But multinational corporate conglomerates that dominate the food industry, distribution and even health care, have made it increasingly more difficult to allocate food where its needed most, and make the perceived cheap, tasty, processed stuff more accessible than pure, fresh, whole foods.

If we are to combat the issues of malnutrition in our country and around the world, we can start by opting out of the corporate food system, growing our own, supporting local food manufacturers and sharing these resources. We can help to support educational and charitable organizations that bring healthy, fresh fruits and vegetables to the nation’s sprawling “food deserts.” And we can help to heal our soil—where many of the vital nutrients originate—by always choosing organic and non-gmo foods.

World War II gave us industry like we'd never seen it before. More than just bullets and machines—the factory revolutionized food, too. Following the war, 1950s Americana was defined by the ersatz foods of modernity: lime-green Jell-O, Betty Crocker cake mixes, canned vegetables, frozen TV dinners, Tang. Fresh fruits and vegetables were quaint old-world unnecessary reminders of our uncivilized past.

We embraced the quicker meal, with less prep and mess to clean up as a marker of our foray into a New World paved with neatly storable boxes, cans and tubes of fresh factory-pressed food. Yummy. But the effects of these foods have created the opposite image of what a futuristic society would look like. Instead, we're plagued with the significantly undignified rising rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease; and destruction of our farmers' rustic connection with the earth, pollution, deforestation, genetic modification. And, it finally seems as though we're getting the message as a new study finds sales of packaged foods are steadily declining.

World War II gave us industry like we’d never seen it before. More than just bullets and machines—the factory revolutionized food, too. Following the war, 1950s Americana was defined by the ersatz foods of modernity: lime-green Jell-O, Betty Crocker cake mixes, canned vegetables, frozen TV dinners, Tang. Fresh fruits and vegetables were quaint old-world unnecessary reminders of our uncivilized past.

We embraced the quicker meal, with less prep and mess to clean up as a marker of our foray into a New World paved with neatly storable boxes, cans and tubes of fresh factory-pressed food. Yummy. But the effects of these foods have created the opposite image of what a futuristic society would look like. Instead, we’re plagued with the significantly undignified rising rates of obesity, diabetes, heart disease; and destruction of our farmers’ rustic connection with the earth, pollution, deforestation, genetic modification. And, it finally seems as though we’re getting the message as a new study finds sales of packaged foods are steadily declining.

Food Business News recently reported that sales in 14 of the top 20 packaged food categories declined by three percent or more in the last year. Categories include baby formula, bread, soup, canned and jarred fruit, etc. You certainly wouldn’t notice this by walking into any supermarket where aisles are modern day shrines to the packaged food gods.The multinational brand conglomerates that own your favorite boxes of cereals, cans of soup, frozen pizzas and candy bars continue to buy emerging brands still experiencing upward growth to boost the parent company’s value and satisfy shareholders and board members hunger for profits. They push cheaper products out through giants like Wal-Mart and Target and strike deals with dollar stores to move massive volume in secondary markets as grocery consumers move away from the pellucidity of the trademarked packaged foodstuffs and opt instead for fresher foods.

The organic food industry, which surpassed the $30 billion mark in sales last year—a 9.5 percent increase over 2010—saw more than half of that growth coming from the sales of fresh fruits and vegetables and not from packaged foods. And while organic fruits and vegetables may seem like an indulgence for the elite health food store consumer, even the nation’s poorest are beginning to see through the illusory affordability of packaged foods as a deception proffered by the packaged food industry and are returning to fresh foods as local farmers markets crop up all across the country. The reach of preparing a meal out of fresh ingredients goes farther on less money than the nutritionally-inferior packaged alternatives, and, it seems, everyone is figuring this out.

It isn’t just a result of the lingering recession, either. According to James Richardson, Senior Vice President of the Hartman Group, a consumer research firm, “an aggregate shift away from packaged food began long before now and even long before the recession began. If we look at the volumetric trends from 2003 until 2009 (something almost no one ever does), we see that fresh food (i.e., raw fruits, raw vegetables, grains) have been steadily growing while packaged food (everything in a package) has been steadily, inexorably declining.”

Partial credit can be given to the efforts of a number of health organizations and individuals like Michelle Obama, Jamie Oliver and Mark Bittman who have emphasized not only the irrefutable necessity of eating healthy foods, but also the ease in doing so, both in the kitchen and in the bank account. From the White House garden to Oliver’s school lunch makeovers and the myriad cooking shows demonstrating fast, healthy and flavorful meal ideas, Americans of all income levels are getting back to basics.

Frequent outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, food recalls and issues like Pink Slime don’t help the packaged food category, either. And then of course, there are genetically modified ingredients. The FDA just received the most signatures in the agency’s history on the issue of labeling GMOs. California and Vermont are close to becoming the first states to mandate labeling of all food products containing the divisive ingredients. While the rest of the modern world requires labeling of GMOs or bans them altogether, as much as 80 percent of the packaged foods sold in the U.S. contain unlabeled genetically modified foods, namely soy, corn and canola.

Packaged foods have become downright scary.

Marketers in the 1950s appealed to the sensibility of the exhausted stay-at-home housewife. Laura Shapiro,author of Something from the Oven, sums it up: “Soon no excuse at all was needed, and stories simply promised ‘Hot breads—in a jiffy!’ ‘Quick fix desserts!’ ‘Suppers that beat the clock!’ Here was one claim that manufacturers could stand behind; and when it came to some foods, this was probably the sole claim that could be made with any credibility.” And while the world is a drastically different place now—especially for women—packaged foods have evolved in an essentially insulting mutation, appealing to our love for the sensational and ridiculous (hotdog stuffed pizza crust, you take the cake), offering gimmick and schtick rather than inexpensive and easy ways of meeting our nutritional needs. Gone are the novel packaged food products that were at the very least, logical: minute rice, cans of vegetables, powdered gravy. We’ve moved on to Doritos Locos Tacos, fudge-covered Oreos and Diet Mountain Dew.

The industrial age is over. We’ve moved on to technology to further fuel our sense of community and to make the world a more accessible and improved place. Despite the number of Americans suffering from food-related illnesses, we are getting healthier while the packaged food industry is perpetuating the preposterous in desperate attempts to stay alive. But if the industry has any sense of dignity, it will hopefully die-off with grace.

Want a side of lumber with your dinner? That’s what you may be munching on if cellulose is on the ingredient list of your foods.

Food producers use this factory-made additive, crafted from miniscule pieces of wood pulp or other plant fibers, in processed foods all the time. Cellulose coats shredded cheese to keep it from clumping. It boosts the fiber content in white bread. It thickens foods—so that low-fat ice cream tastes just as creamy as the regular version. Cellulose adds bulk to foods without adding fat because we can't digest insoluble dietary fibers. It’s in everything from baked goods to syrup to cereal.

Want a side of lumber with your dinner? That’s what you may be munching on if cellulose is on the ingredient list of your foods.

Food producers use this factory-made additive, crafted from miniscule pieces of wood pulp or other plant fibers, in processed foods all the time. Cellulose coats shredded cheese to keep it from clumping. It boosts the fiber content in white bread. It thickens foods—so that low-fat ice cream tastes just as creamy as the regular version. Cellulose adds bulk to foods without adding fat because we can’t digest insoluble dietary fibers. It’s in everything from baked goods to syrup to cereal.

“Well, that’s disgusting,” you say. “But I only buy organic food.” Sorry to say, but cellulose sneaks into organic foods as well, such as organic shredded cheese.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, only powdered cellulose in its least manipulated form can be used in foods labeled “organic” or “made with organic” ingredients. Well, that’s comforting, right? Didn’t think so.

The low cost of this synthetic additive, coupled with the rising cost of raw materials such as flour, oil and sugar is increasing its popularity among food producers.

Different forms of cellulose can also appear on labels under other names. Microcrystalline cellulose is labeled as MCC or cellulose gel and carboxymethyl cellulose is labeled as cellulose gum. They add different textures to foods by trapping various amounts of air or water.

No, eating cellulose isn’t the same as chomping on a 2X4—at least they ground it up. For reals though, powdered cellulose is made by heating the raw wood fibers in different chemicals to separate the cellulose. The mixture then gets purified. Other versions of cellulose go through even more processing.

Nutritionists say eating cellulose isn’t harmful. “Cellulose is cellulose,” whether it comes from wood pulp or celery, Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a group that advocates healthier, more nutritious food, said in a Wall Street Journal article.

For us laymen, though, I think we can probably agree that chemically processed wood pulp is not the same as eating vegetables.

We can talk all day about “eating in moderation,” but if what we’re eating in moderation consists of various foods that are nothing more than processed, bleached, preserved and sugared ingredients, we might as well just call it what it is: Gradual toxic food poisoning. If your diet consists of little more than fast food, fried chicken, candy and boxed snacks, you could be on the path to become the one in three Americans obese today, or the one in five suffering from heart disease. Based on recurring scientific studies showing their toxicity to our health, here are five foods you should stop consuming today.

We can talk all day about “eating in moderation,” but if what we’re eating in moderation consists of various foods that are nothing more than processed, bleached, preserved and sugared ingredients, we might as well just call it what it is: Gradual toxic food poisoning. If your diet consists of little more than fast food, fried chicken, candy and boxed snacks, you could be on the path to become the one in three Americans obese today, or the one in five suffering from heart disease. Based on recurring scientific studies showing their toxicity to our health, here are five foods you should stop consuming today.

//

Soda

There can’t be enough to say about soda. It’s a recipe for disease disguised in a delicious, bubbly brew. We’ll just breeze on down the line with the ingredients found in a traditional, mainstream soda. Sodium benzoate is a preservative found in soft drinks, and it’s been linked to the phantom triad of allergies, asthma and eczema. Phosphoric acid, the chemical that gives soda its wonderfully sharp, brassy flavor, has been shown to cause osteoporosis and tooth decay (causing more damage to the bones than battery acid, some experts claim). This acid—yes, acid—depletes calcium and other minerals from the body as it’s excreted in urine, taking with it the very stuff our bones and teeth are made of. Because of the high amount of minerals it takes with it out of the body, phosphoric acid also does a number on the kidneys, and it’s linked to kidney and renal problems in drinkers. Most mainstream sodas are still sweetened with high fructose corn syrup, a sweetener that’s come under much scrutiny in recent years, with links to metabolic syndrome, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. For soda manufacturers going back to “natural cane sugar,” consumers should note that the sugars are still in such high quantities in sodas that they still lead to cavities, tooth decay and obesity. In fact, it’s estimated that regular soda drinkers are a whopping 80% more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-drinkers. Pass the water, please.

Fried Foods

There’s been a great deal of hard research (and backlashing controversy from the food industry) over the health effects of fried foods. Various studies around the world have found correlations between fried foods—particularly meats—and the prevalence of cancers developing in the body. While many studies have been deemed “inconclusive,” a very interesting and recent study in 2010 concluded that well-done meats, especially fried meats, doubled a person’s risks for developing bladder cancer compared to those eating meat rare or underdone. The lead author of the study, Professor Xifeng Wu, was reported to state, “These results strongly support what we suspected—people who eat a lot of red meat, particularly well-done red meat, such as fried or barbecued, seem to have a higher likelihood of bladder cancer.” Interestingly enough, fried foods have also been shown in scientific studies to increase the prevalence of asthma in patients.

Fast Food

Fast food contains so little actual food that it may as well be called “fast edibles.” Yes, it’s edible, alright; we can push it through our gullets and eventually pop it out in the end, but does that qualify it as food? Funny thing about food; it should feed the body (i.e. nourish it in some way). Fast food does anything but nourish; more appropriately, it merely shuts the body up until the next feeding time. For starters, fast food is ridiculously high in fat, calories and sodium. In one study, the average meal purchased by fast food customers surveyed was 827 calories. For those needing a reminder, the average adult needs only 1,800 to 2,000 calories in a full day. That 827-calorie meal is about half the calories most adults need in a day all at once; leaving little room for breakfast, dinner, snacks, dessert and any other foods that actually provide essential nutrients (whole grains, vegetables, fruits and lean protein).

But if you’re not a calorie counter, perhaps you care that fast food is laden with artificial ingredients (what’s fried chicken made of? Hint: It’s not chicken) and preservatives. Take McDonald’s scrambled eggs, for example. They’re just eggs, right? Sure, if by “just eggs” you’re also including sodium acid pyrophosphate, citric acid, monosodium phosphate and nisin (all preservatives), as well as liquid margarine (which is made from liquid soybean oil, water, partially hydrogenated cottonseed and soybean oils [trans fats], salt, hydrogenated cottonseed oil [trans fats], soy lecithin, mono- and diglycerides, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate [preservatives], artificial flavor, citric acid, vitamin A palmitate and beta carotene [color]). In addition to the copious amounts of preservatives and trans fats in fast food, most chains still rely heavily on monosodium glutamate for the primary seasoning ingredient. While the food industry still tries to rebuff claims that MSG causes migraines, tremors and neurological disorders, organizations like the Mayo Clinic are finally stepping up to verify some of the very legitimate medical warnings for consumers.

White Flour Products

You know to eat your whole grains. But are you still buying Wonderbread for ham sandwiches, dining out for pasta twice a week and indulging in the ever-comforting macaroni and cheese at home? White flour is one of our generation’s most dangerous processed foods. We’ve taken something wholesome and nourishing (the whole grain) and refined it into something nearly unidentifiable to the body, then treated it with chemicals, deodorizers and bleaching agents.

When flour begins its processing journey, it’s a whole grain consisting of germ, bran and endosperm. To refine the grain, the germ and bran are stripped off, and most of the fiber, minerals and essential nutrients come off in the process. This refined grain leads to rapid release of insulin from the body when consumed, which leads to an overworked pancreas and an increased storage of fat (leading to both diabetes and obesity). But there are also the bleaching and deodorizing processes that most flour will go through before becoming “white flour.” If the idea of your food being treated with chlorine bleach freaks you out, don’t worry; it freaks us out, too. And a by-product of this process is a chemical called alloxan that forms in the flour, which has been linked to failure of the pancreas, a failure to produce insulin and the development of type 2 diabetes.

Baked Goods

I’ll take a beating for this one, but I’m going there anyways. Most commercially-prepared baked goods are just as bad for you as the aforementioned four “foods,” as they contain a number of the same toxins but in the guise of sweet muffins, flaky croissants and buttery muffins. Fast food chains and grocery chain bakeries use roughly the same heap of ingredients for baked treats: Margarines and processed vegetable oils; white flours; refined sugars; and heavy amounts of preservatives and additives. Sound like the same recipe for disaster as with soda, fast food and white bread? It is.

To give commercial baked goods their “buttery, flaky” texture, most are prepared with margarine or processed vegetable oils, which translate into trans fats, those fats we now understand to lead to heart disease and compromised cholesterol levels. Virtually all baked goods are made with white flours (see above for reasons to avoid this food). Those that are labeled as “made with whole grains” must be scrutinized very carefully to see if only 100% whole grains are used or (as in most cases) there are whole grains somewhere in the general long list of ingredients, but while flour still reigns conductor of that muffin train. Furthermore, baked goods are invariably loaded with sugars—usually bleached, refined white sugar. There’s a great read in the New York Times in which the author explores the idea that all sugar is toxic, in any amount, to the body—highly recommended food for thought. And while some fast food and coffee chains have introduced lines of “mini” baked goods for the health-conscious consumer, these foods are still produced with a grocery list of ingredients most of us can’t pronounce. Here’s one ingredients listing from a popular coffee chain’s piece of pound cake: Sugar, wheat flour, bleached, enriched (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin and folic acid), egg, unsalted butter (pasteurized cream [from milk]), powdered sugar (sugar, cornstarch), water, lemon juice (lemon juice from concentrate [water, concentrated lemon juice], sodium benzoate, sodium metabisulfate and sodium sulfite [preservatives], lemon oil), vegetable shortening (palm and canola oil), emulsifier (propylene esters, mono- and diglycerides, sodium stearoyl lactylate, tricalcium phosphate), nonfat milk, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, corn starch, monocalcium phosphate), food starch – modified, natural flavor, salt, icing base (dextrose, stearic acid, agar agar, salt, pectin, guar gum, sodium hexametaphosphate), corn syrup, natural butter flavor (maltodextrin, natural butter flavor, annatto and turmeric [for color]), vital wheat gluten, guar gum, xanthan gum, natural lemon oil, beta carotene wsp (maltodextrin, glucose syrup, gum arabic, vegetable oil, tocopherol, vitamin c, beta carotene pure, silicon dioxide), titanium dioxide. may contain pan spray (canola oil, soy lecithin, may contain mineral oil, and/or natural flavor). Hello! Have you made it to this point in the paragraph? Congratulations, you’ve just reached the end of the ingredients. You’ve earned your slice of cake. Right.

Folks, the choice is yours. We can eat whatever we want in moderation with the hopes that we’re eating just less than enough poison to make our body terminally diseased, and tell ourselves that a bit of spinach with dinner will make all the bad stuff go away. Or we can at least acknowledge that certain foods, in any amount, are slowly doing a disservice to our bodies, and rather than fitting into a “balanced” diet, they’re merely small imbalances that, bit by bit, cause our internal structures to become fully imbalanced. My personal conclusion is simple: Eat well, live well.